Lack of protection from Google birthed Samsung's Microsoft deal

Samsung isn't waiting for Google to close its acquisition of Motorola, and neither have a wide variety of other Android licensees who were supposed to be protected by the deal.

Google's $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola was ostensibly about protecting the Android platform, and by extension its licensees, from patent infringement claims by Apple and Microsoft. Motorola's tens of thousands of patents and patent filings were supposed to allow Android a countersuit defense of its infringement cases.

That isn't happening however, notes FOSS Patents writer Florian Mueller. Samsung's new licensing deal with Microsoft is just the latest in a series of deals that have also involved HTC, Acer, ViewSonic, General Dynamics, Itronix, Velocity Micro, Onkyo, and Wistron.

"If Samsung truly believed that Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility was going to be helpful to the Android ecosystem at large," Mueller wrote, "it would have waited until that deal is closed before concluding the license agreement with Microsoft. But Samsung probably knows it can't rely on Google. It decided to address Android's intellectual property issues on its own."

Seeing what sticks

In addition to announcing a partnership with Microsoft that pays the software vendor royalties on the Android products Samsung sells, the deal also affirms Samsung's support for Microsoft's competing Windows Phone 7 platform.

Samsung is also reported to be stepping up efforts on its own internal Bada smartphone platform, which it launched last year in parallel with very similar phone handsets running WP7 or Android.

Additionally, the company has also announced plans with Intel to support a new Linux-based platform named Tizen, which essentially a replacement of the MeeGo program Intel initiated with Nokia, merging two efforts to produce an open source mobile platform the two firms had earlier maintained in parallel: Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo.

Nokia has since effectively abandoned MeeGo to pursue its WP7 partnership with Microsoft, while Google recently announced its own plans with Intel to bring Android to the chip-maker's Atom mobile processors.

I am still convinced that Google bought MMI because they were threatening to sue other Android OEMs for patent violations. That is the only theory that explains the buying price.

Even if Android should survive (unlikely) the combined attacks of Oracle and Apple (without making Android too expensive, or killing it altogether), keeping a platform alive when the own users sue each other by proxy for patents really violated by Google, would have been the death toll.

Between Amazon killing Android tablets today (and cementing an unrealistic price point) and all these patent battles, we should see a lot of OEMs seeking alternatives in the near future. Android may have peaked without generating a penny for Google.

If you want timely news you should just and just read fosspatents.com and digitimes.com directly and just skip AppleInsider's slim rehashes of those sites.

Don't know about that. I would never have the time to go through all these sites. He links to the original article and adds some own commentary/details. And it is quite clear, what was taken from the original source and what has been added. Can't see what is wrong with that. Trying to capture the essential information from something is not necessarily a "slim rehash" (getting large amounts of people to agree about the "essential" parts is a different story).

DED has almost always been right with his predictions, even with pretty bold ones almost nobody else was courageous enough to publish. I prefer that over re-worded press releases any given day.

If you want timely news you should just and just read fosspatents.com and digitimes.com directly and just skip AppleInsider's slim rehashes of those sites.

But if you want slant and spin, you'll do better right here.

This stuff is usually flimsy conclusions barely based upon unsupportable assumptions and weasel wording.

Take the second paragraph, for example:

"Google's $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola was ostensibly about protecting the Android platform, and by extension its licensees, from patent infringement claims by Apple and Microsoft. Motorola's tens of thousands of patents and patent filings were supposed to allow Android a countersuit defense of its infringement cases."

Lots of possibilities here. And all of this is used to shoehorn the assumption that the acquisition would include every single patent necessary for each of the brands incorporating Android. Only if one makes this assumption could the recent licenses be seen as an indication that the deal is/will be a failure in its intended purpose.

Microsoft has a great bargaining chip (besides the patents)... start developing phones for WinPhone and we'll give you a deal on the patent royalty payments. Not sure if this is actually happening but I wouldn't be surprised at all.

so yet again consumer made an investment in Android and they will be asked to toss it all aside and move to the the MS platform, but then again most android apps are crappy free so people may move quickly to the MS crappy free aps litter with ads to help MS and developers pay their bills.

Between Amazon killing Android tablets today (and cementing an unrealistic price point) and all these patent battles, we should see a lot of OEMs seeking alternatives in the near future. Android may have peaked without generating a penny for Google.

Yeah, 'cause Samsung's been SO good with their tactical acumen lately. Their sales have been quite smooth, I heard.

Come on. Be logical. If Samsung's completely inane, its decisions don't mean anything. On the other hand, if Samsung knows what it's doing, THEN Android is a good choice.

You can't have it both ways. Make a stand guys.

I think that, contrary to what I read here, Android is well and alive. I think that Open Source, out of which Apple saved its ass (Safari, Darwin... anyone?), is under massive attack these days. I also think Google is not going to let Apple or Oracle run rampant on their bizness.

It is however interesting developements of the situation.

Social Capitalist, dreamer and wise enough to know I'm never going to grow up anyway... so not trying anymore.

As soon as the new Windows phone OS comes out, watch Samsung drop Android like a hot potato. They will have a better chance with Microsoft to compete against Amazon, Motorola, and others if they get a head start, especially with the Oracle lawsuit decision looming.

As soon as the new Windows phone OS comes out, watch Samsung drop Android like a hot potato. They will have a better chance with Microsoft to compete against Amazon, Motorola, and others if they get a head start, especially with the Oracle lawsuit decision looming.

I still don't get the hate toward Google since a year or two ago on AI and Apple sites. Most folks loved them until Android.

Now Oracle sucks. Oracle is just a jerk. Same with Microsoft. Microsoft still behaves unethically and releases products that are just plan crap. Windows 7 might be relatively stable and have a few nice features, but overall their interfaces are still crap. The new Office ribbon annoys me daily, and more importantly their anti-competitive behaviors like this patent war crap annoy me. Apple is unfortunately becoming the new Microsoft with their litigations and their war against Adobe and others. Google is what Apple used to be like. But at least Apple makes the best computers around, there is no question about that for me!

All I can say is screw Oracle. They ruined the best things from Sun. And of course MS if given the chance will do to phones what it did to PCs. Folks cheer for Android. Isn't it better than Windows phone on half the smartphones? I bet there would be no Flash or PDF. Just Silverlight and whatever that stupid PDF replacement Microsoft tried to come up with was called. Ugh.

"Overpopulation and climate change are serious shit." Gilsch"I was really curious how they had managed such fine granularity of alienation." addabox

Samsung is also reported to be stepping up efforts on its own internal Bada smartphone platform, which it launched last year in parallel with very similar phone handsets running WP7 or Android.

Additionally, the company has also announced plans with Intel to support a new Linux-based platform named Tizen, which essentially a replacement of the MeeGo program Intel initiated with Nokia, merging two efforts to produce an open source mobile platform the two firms had earlier maintained in parallel: Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo.

Android, Bada, WP7, Tizen. On half a million different models of phone. Nothing like focusing your product portfolio to keep things running smoothly.

They spoke of the sayings and doings of their commander, the grand duke, and told stories of his kindness and irascibility.

IMHO. there's a more couple of more likely reasons a company like HTC or Samsung would agree to pay a licensing fee to MS. Just as Microsoft did with Linux, they understand nuisance
suits have value and often it's just not worth the expense and product delays to fight 'em, particularly when the claimant has deep pockets.

Another reason could well be that both HTC and Samsung have plans to offer MS mobile products. Fighting MS requests on one hand while working out licensing and development agreements with the other may not get the best results.